


Catlike

by Orcux



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-29
Updated: 2012-09-06
Packaged: 2017-11-13 03:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/498898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orcux/pseuds/Orcux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're both like cats- following anyone and everyone who gives you food." Marui x Ryoma</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the new story I was working on! I don't think this pair has many fans, and I can't really blame anyone because these two characters barely interacted in canon (or did they? I actually can't remember!), but I hope you'll read this with an open mind. Haha!

"Oi, Echizen!" Momoshiro's cheerful and overly-loud voice rang out as he banged on the lockers to catch Ryoma's attention.

Ryoma flinched slightly from the loud noise and looked up, annoyance written all over his face. He slipped his racket into his tennis bag, ready to make a snarky remark about how Momoshiro voice was likely to scare away even Tachibana Ann, the girl of his dreams, when Momoshiro's next sentence stopped him in his tracks.

"Kawamura-senpai says that he's treating us to another round of sushi at his place!"

"Oh?" This changed things. Ryoma had never been one to turn down a good meal of sushi.

"Let's go then." In a flash, he had tugged his tennis bag over a shoulder, and slipped past Momoshiro out of the locker room.

"What…" Momoshiro started, his eyes widening as he whipped around to see the team rookie smirking playfully at him. "Wait for me, Echizen!"

"Mada mada dane."

\--

Ryoma sighed.

On his left, Momoshiro fought with Kaidoh over the last salmon sushi left on the plate, the both of them squabbling noisily and incoherently. Momoshiro had stolen most of his sushi while he wasn't looking, and Ryoma still held a small grudge against him, so he directed insults to him under his breath.

There was no response- he was probably too busy fighting with Kaidoh to care about anything else.

Sighing, Ryoma slid off the chair and headed over to a quieter corner of the sushi bar, unnoticed. Slipping into a chair away from the noise the Seigaku regulars were creating, he made himself comfortable and closed his eyes, readying himself for a good nap.

"…and then Sanada-fukubuchou told me that if I didn't shut up, he'd make me run a hundred laps around the court!"

Ryoma's eyes snapped open and he gazed around in annoyance. He knew that voice. If he remembered right, it was… Kirihara Akaya, the second year rookie of the Rikkaidai team. Though he's a year older than me and way weaker, he thought, smirking to himself. He briefly wondered what Kirihara was doing in the sushi bar, when another voice spoke up.

"Hey, who wants another plate of sushi?" A deeper accented voice spoke up, followed by an enthusiastic agreement from Kirihara.

Ryoma gulped. He was suddenly starting to feel hungry again, the memory of Momoshiro stealing his sushi still embedded in his mind.

"Jackal, three more plates for me!" A light, musical voice called out teasingly.

"Bunta, don't eat so much, you'll get fat." Jackal replied, sighing. The sound of a chair screeching against the floor sounded as he got up to order the sushi. The sound of footsteps neared Ryoma, and he looked up to see the tan player staring at him. "Oh? If it isn't the Seigaku rookie player…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryoma gets to know the Rikkaidai team a little better. Sort of.

“Bunta, don’t eat so much, you’ll get fat.” Jackal replied, sighing. The sound of a chair screeching against the floor sounded as he got up to order the sushi. The sound of footsteps neared Ryoma, and he looked up to see the tan player staring at him. “Oh? If it isn’t the Seigaku rookie player…”

Ryoma let a smirk grace his face. “If it isn’t Rikkaidai’s Iron Wall of Defense.”

Jackal looked slightly amused. “Yeah, that.” A slight frown marred his face, and he gestured to the Seigaku regulars who were seated just a few meters away from Ryoma. 

“Why aren’t you with your team?” His tone was lightly curious, suggesting that he didn’t particularly want to intrude on Ryoma’s privacy, but Ryoma decided to answer anyway.

“Too noisy,” he replied shortly, and Jackal’s expression cleared in understanding, a friendly smile easing back into his face. 

“Well, why don’t you join us at our table then? I’m sure Kirihara’d love to see you.” Jackal rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “He’s been talking about you nonstop ever since you defeated him.” 

A cocky smile crept on Ryoma’s face, and he lowered his cap down to cover his eyes. “Only if you treat me.”

“Ugh! You and Bunta are the same…” Jackal waved his arms wildly, in mock frustration. “Fine, fine…”

Smirking triumphantly, Ryoma made his way towards the Rikkaidai table, sliding into one of their seats. It took a mere three seconds before Kirihara jumped up in horror, his chair screeching against the floor noisily.

“It’s you! Echizen!” Kirihara yelled, making him flinch from the loud noise. He’s just as bad as Momo-senpai… Ryoma sighed, wondering if sitting down at the table was a bad idea after all. 

“Eh, it’s Echizen!” The pink-haired teen sitting opposite of Ryoma exclaimed in surprise. Ryoma immediately recognized him as Marui Bunta. His light amethyst eyes glanced up to meet Ryoma’s golden ones. “What’re you doing here?”

Ryoma slid his cap lower down to cover his eyes, not very pleased with the attention he was getting. “Kuwahara-san invited me,” he stated shortly, deciding to pin the blame on the teen.

Marui raised an eyebrow. “Jackal did?” He shrugged, and popped a piece of bubblegum into his mouth as he waited for Jackal to return.

Ryoma nodded, staring at the bubbles Marui blew with rapt fascination. “I think he’s regretting it now though,” he murmured, making Marui glance at him in surprise. “I’m making him treat me to sushi,” he explained, a playful smirk making its way onto his lips.

Marui laughed, his musical voice sending weird tingles down Ryoma’s spine. “Yeah, I know! I only tag along when he treats me too!”

Ryoma opened his mouth to reply, when a low voice intervened. “Speaking badly of me, eh? I should have known…”

Marui jumped, his amethyst eyes widening by a fraction. “J-Jackal! I didn’t speak badly of you at all! R-Right, Echizen?” He turned to look at Ryoma, who was too busy staring at the plates of sushi laid in front of him, and had barely registered the question.

“Mm…” Ryoma mumbled absentmindedly as he reached for a plate of sushi and devoured it immediately. Realizing that Ryoma had already begun to eat, Marui hopped into his seat again, postponing his apology session with Jackal in lieu of grabbing a plate of sushi as well, before it was all eaten up by the hungry Seigaku rookie. 

Jackal gave a long suffering sigh, and after sharing a look with Kirihara, who was watching their exchange with an amused expression on his face, he sat down and dug in as well.

 

Ryoma sank down in his seat, enjoying the comfortable sort of warmth the sushi gave him. Opposite him, Marui did the same thing, and the both of them yawned simultaneously.

“Now that I’ve eaten, I feel sleepy,” Marui commented, stretching slightly.

“’Same here,” Ryoma murmured, rubbing sleepy tears from his eyes. 

Jackal raised an eyebrow, and stared at them with a weird expression on his face. Ryoma was the first to react, a small frown on his face.

“What?” He asked suspiciously, looking slightly disturbed at the fact that Jackal was staring at them without saying a word. 

Jackal chuckled and shook his head. “I just thought that the both of you were kind of similar to each other…” 

“Huh? How?” Marui asked, perplexed, as he chewed on another piece of bubblegum.

Jackal scratched his head and shrugged. “Uh… I suppose it’s because of your behaviorisms-“

“I don’t chew on bubblegum,” Ryoma supplied helpfully.

“-sort of like the way you two are… cat-like…” Jackal continued, ignoring Ryoma’s previous comment. 

“Cat-like?” Marui had to raise a brow at that. He pondered over the statement for a moment before frowning. “That’s the first time I’ve heard of that description.”

“Well you see, you two would follow anyone who gave you food –which is frankly quite worrying- and you get sleepy right after you eat!” Jackal explained rather matter-of-factly.

Ryoma gave a small yawn right on cue, and Jackal nodded triumphantly, pointing at him as if to say “What did I tell you?” 

Ryoma glared at him, still sore about being ignored, and folded his arms, mulling over the thought. Cat-like, eh… he thought to himself, being reminded of Karupin. He allowed a small smile to slide onto his face. Maybe it wasn’t so bad.

“Ah, Echizen looks happy!” Marui pointed out, grinning. 

Jackal raised an eyebrow. 

“So do you, Bunta.”


	3. Chapter 3

After the meeting with the Rikkaidai team (or at least half of them) in the sushi bar, Ryoma was showered with rebukes by a very annoyed Momoshiro- who had found Ryoma at the back of the sushi bar with Marui and the rest- about how he had abandoned the team to 'fraternize with the enemy'.

Momoshiro dragged Ryoma out of the sushi bar, casting the Rikkaidai members dirty glances as he did so, muttering under his breath about how Ryoma hadn't invited him along for 'free food', and how he might just let the matter slide if Ryoma treated him the next time they ate out.

Not that there was a chance of that happening.

Ryoma covertly used that as an excuse to ignore Kirihara's constant attempts to challenge him again. He didn't want to play against Kirihara again- it was honestly too much of a bother.

And it hurt.

That evening, when the Seigaku team left the Kawamura sushi bar, Ryoma had inadvertently formed a few unexpected bonds with the Rikkaidai members.

 

"Echizen!" Marui called out, jogging to catch up with Ryoma.

Ryoma, who was just about to place his money into the slot of the vending machine, turned around to see who was calling him.

A flash of pink hair darted into his vision, and Ryoma was greeted with a pair of brilliant, amethyst eyes. "Ah, it's you." Ryoma muttered, shifting the cap on his head absentmindedly.

"What do you mean by 'it's you'?" Marui pouted, crossing his arms. "I have a name, you know!" His eyes trailed to the coins Ryoma was holding, and the vending machine which rumbled gently beside him.

A mischievous smile tugged at his lips.

"Hey, Echizen," He lowered his voice conspiratorially as he leant in; making sure that only Ryoma could hear what he was saying. "Want to get more than your money's worth of canned drinks?"

Ryoma's eyebrow shot up his hairline. "What do you mean?"

Marui chuckled softly and stretched out his hand. "Trust me."

Annoyed, but feeling slightly curious, Ryoma placed his coins onto Marui's palm. "If you run off with my money, I'll kill you," Ryoma threatened.

At this, Marui let a small smirk grace his lips, similar to the one Ryoma wore on a daily basis. He chose not to respond, and slipped the coins into the vending machine coin slot. For a brief moment, his hand hovered uncertainly over the different drink selections.

"Grape Ponta," Ryoma supplied helpfully, and Marui selected it carefully.

A can of grape-flavored Ponta rolled onto the platform, which lowered itself down, readying itself to deposit the drink.

"Heh!"

Ryoma's eyes widened. With one swift motion, Marui bent down and jammed his hand into the opening of the hole, forcing the drink back into the machine. With a whirring sound, the drink rolled back where it sat on the platform forlornly.

There was a clatter, and the coins dropped into the coin slot. Marui chuckled at Ryoma's mystified expression.

"They automatically refund you when you don't get your drinks," Marui informed him, bending down and reaching out for the coins, rolling them into his palm. "And we'll make use of that misplaced kindness of theirs."

Before Ryoma could blink, Marui slipped the coins back into the coin slot and grinned.

"Hmm, what should I get?"

Ryoma glared. "When did I say I would treat you?"

Marui shook his head in mock sadness. "Too bad, I've already pressed it."

Ryoma swallowed his complains in lieu of watching the second canned drink fall from the shelf and onto the platform. His eyes widened with fascination, as the two cans rolled out into the drink slot.

Marui picked both of them up and tossed one to Ryoma, who caught it with unsteady hands.

Ryoma was still trying to process what had just happened. Did Marui really just trick the machine into giving both of the drinks for the price of one? How did he find out about such a nifty trick?

… Or rather, why did he even know about these things? Marui didn't come off as a vending machine fanatic to him…

"What's wrong?" Marui asked Ryoma, raising his eyebrows.

When Ryoma just looked bemused and shook his head, Marui shrugged.

He opened the lid of the canned drink effortlessly, and downed a quarter of its contents in one go. He licked his lips appreciatively. "Always wanted to try this, and it's actually not half bad."

Ryoma blinked.

Marui was holding a can of Ponta, a drink many of his fellow regulars had tried and rejected countless times.

And he just liked its taste.

Ryoma smiled- a sight which was rather rare in itself, and which the Rikkaidai player swore to never forget. The sunbeams shone down onto his face, illuminating his smile, the birds began to sing, and the cherry blossom trees began to bloom even as the summer sun shone down on them.

Marui's cheeks burned without his consent, and his heartbeat elevated seemingly without a reason. He could hardly hear the birds around them, all he could see and hear was Ryoma and his deliciously sweet voice, and the bright golden orbs which gazed at Marui's amethyst ones as he continued to stare.

And it was at that seemingly insignificant moment, where Marui realized that this feeling- the terrible feeling which was bitter yet sweet and filled with innocent yearning- was love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryoma finds it a little too hard to concentrate on tennis.

Ryoma tried to focus on his game with Momoshiro, but his mind was out of it.

Was it lunchtime yet? Was it time to be dismissed yet? When was tennis training going to end…?

The thoughts kept swirling inside his mind, and though he tried to rid himself of them, they returned, stronger than ever. For some reason which he couldn't phantom, he wanted to see the volley specialist from Rikkaidai again.

Ever since the Ponta incident the two weeks before, Marui had taken the initiative to invite him to lunch occasionally… on an increasingly frequent basis. Although he wondered why Marui would even bother to do so (Rikkaidai was really far away), Marui insisted that he overslept on the bus until the last stop, which happened to be Seigaku, and it just so happened that it was lunchtime every time he did so, where Ryoma was worn out and hungry and just wanted some food.

Ryoma wondered if he'd pull a Kirihara Akaya next. (1)

A ball sped past him, sending a cloud of dust right up at his face. Ryoma coughed wildly, trying to rid his lungs of the dirt, while Momoshiro's loud and greatly annoyed voice split his eardrums.

"Oi, Echizen! What are you spacing out for!" Momoshiro shouted angrily, rubbing his wrist from the force of his famed Dunk Smash. "You could have returned that, I know you could!"

Ryoma adjusted the Fila cap on his head, trying to look unfazed. He frowned to himself. He didn't really want Momoshiro (or anyone else, for that matter) to know the real reason behind his odd behavior, so he crossed his arms and thought of an excuse quickly.

"That smash was so weak that I could've batted it away with my right hand," Ryoma smirked, his usual cockiness back into his voice. "But I felt sorry for you so I stilled my hand, Momo-senpai."

Knowing the power-player, he wouldn't say no to a direct challenge like that…

"What did you say!"

Just as planned.

For the rest of the match, Ryoma managed to deflect back all of Momoshiro's smashes, making him growl in frustration. Kaidoh had betted Inui's new Special Deluxe 1000% Nutritious Coconut Mold Remix juice that he would lose the match, and he didn't want to lose to Ryoma and drink that horrid juice- even if it was good for his body (or so Inui kept insisting). No way.

He didn't even want to know what Coconut Mold was.

It was obvious to him that Ryoma had something else on his mind- he was spacing out throughout the match- and jumping every time someone on the other side of the fence mentioned the word 'lunch'. Maybe he was hungry or something.

Either way, this was a chance he wasn't going to miss.

Annoyance welled up within him as Ryoma began to zone out again. Was he so weak that Ryoma still had the time to daze out in the middle of a match with him?

Suddenly feeling that he had to prove his worthiness to the young boy, he took advantage of the moment where Ryoma's grip on his tennis racket slackened (he wasn't paying attention to the match again), leapt up, and fired his famed Dunk Smash. He celebrated internally, only feeling a slight twinge of guilt at the fact that he was probably being unfair.

Oh well, it was Echizen's fault for spacing out during a match anyway!

His triumphant grin vanished when he realized where the ball was heading: It was speeding in Ryoma's direction- and Ryoma, who wasn't paying his full attention to the game, backed away a little too late.

"Echizen-!"

Momoshiro could only watch helplessly as the ball struck Ryoma in the arm with a dull thud. He fell backwards in shock from the impact, gasping in anguish and clutching his arm instinctively, cradling it to his chest.

Momoshiro jumped across the net separating the two sides of the court and ran towards Ryoma, who was slumped down on the floor, looking dazed- as if he wasn't exactly sure what had happened. He probably didn't, since he hadn't really been paying attention during their match.

"Echizen…! Oi, Echizen, are you alright?"

Ryoma nodded slowly, wincing slightly as the simple action sent sparks of pain down his arm. His golden eyes blinked rapidly to get rid of the painful tears which welled up in his eyes.

"I'm… alright." He mumbled, getting up to his feet. Momoshiro stood around awkwardly, looking worriedly at Ryoma, and resembling Oishi, the worrywart of the team, more than he ever had.

Ryoma swayed unsteadily on his feet and used his tennis racket to keep himself upright, the metallic surface scraping the ground with a sickening screech. He winced slightly. The surface was probably dented now, or not as shiny as before. And it was his favorite racket too…

"Like hell you are!" Momoshiro shouted, grabbing Ryoma by the arm. "Hurry, I'll bring you to the infirmary!" Ryoma winced in pain as Momoshiro had grabbed him by his injured arm.

Belatedly noticing his discomfort, Momoshiro let go of the sore limb.

"M-My bad!"

Then, ignoring Ryoma's protests, Momoshiro half-dragged him to the infirmary.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marui slips up.

Ryoma lay down in the infirmary bed, his arm and head throbbing in pain. There was a weird sort of pressure in both his ears, which successfully muffled out his environment. He couldn't even hear anything around him, his throat was uncomfortably dry and it was killing him.

He really regretted spacing out during the match with Momoshiro- he probably couldn't play tennis for the rest of the day now.

Or the rest of the week, he thought to himself glumly.

Momoshiro had gone out to get him some water, (Ryoma wanted Ponta, but Momoshiro had insisted) but he hadn't come back, and it had been already… (here, Ryoma glanced at the clock on the tableside)… twenty minutes.

Surely a trip to the cafeteria couldn't take that long?

Just as he watched the clock tick to thirty minutes and he made up his mind to get out of bed to go to the cafeteria for his drink, injured or not, the pressure in his ears lifted. Suddenly, he could hear everything properly again. He breathed a sigh of relief.

One problem solved.

Muffled voices outside the infirmary door caught his attention, and when he listened harder, he could vaguely make out the voices of Momoshiro and… his heart leapt for some reason- Marui. Momoshiro's voice was loud as ever. It was a wonder he couldn't hear just a moment ago, pressure in his ear or not.

"And why on earth…" he heard Momoshiro sigh loudly, "…are you following me?"

Marui chuckled, a sound that made Ryoma's ears tingle pleasantly. "Why can't I? You're hiding something from me, and I think I know who it involves…"

"If you know I'm hiding something, then make my job easier and stop following me!" Momoshiro snapped back, irritation lacing his voice. Ryoma raised an eyebrow. Momoshiro very rarely sounded irritated, except when he was conversing with Kaidoh.

Determined to find out what was happening out there, Ryoma rolled out of the bed— he rolled a little too quickly though, and his arms shuddered in pain when he accidentally rolled on his side. His head began to throb again, and for the second time that day (and not the last), Ryoma cursed himself for spacing out during the match. And Momoshiro for not giving him some slack.

The door opened.

Ryoma, who was in the midst of getting out of the bed and struggling in the blanket which had wrapped around him like a cocoon, turned his head to look at the two people who were standing at the entrance of the door.

Momoshiro and Marui stood at the entrance of the doorway, Momoshiro carrying a bottle of ice cold water, which wasn't that cold anymore considering how long he'd taken to go back to the infirmary.

Ryoma shifted his gaze to Marui, who stood at the door, looking horrified. "E-Echizen! What happened to you?"

Ryoma shifted slightly and opened his mouth to reply- when he felt his arm burn in pain (he was having some difficulty supporting himself). He winced, and stubborn, painful tears filled his golden orbs. He blinked them away furiously. Of all times to look vulnerable and weak!

Marui paled, feeling his heart clench at the look of pain on the younger boy's face. He rushed forward and helped Ryoma back into the bed, noticing how weak the boy felt in his arms. As much as he wanted to prolong the feeling of Ryoma in his arms, he didn't want the other to feel uncomfortable, so he let go quickly. As soon as he made sure that Ryoma was okay, he turned around and rounded up on Momoshiro angrily.

"What happened to Echizen?"

Momoshiro placed the bottled water on the table, looking sheepish. "We were having a match, and I accidentally hit him with my Dunk Smash," he admitted.

Marui looked like he was about to kill Momoshiro. "What?" Momoshiro defended himself, "It wasn't my fault! Echizen was spacing out during the match!"

"Momo-senpai…" Ryoma sighed. He swore to pay back the debt to Momoshiro in the future. Thoroughly.

Marui asked, his usually light and cheerful violet eyes had darkened to an almost possessive shade of amethyst. "You can go ahead and tell your team that Echizen won't be training for the rest of the day, then."

"W-Wha-?" Momoshiro spluttered indignantly. He slammed the wall with his fist, making the windows rattle slightly, and Ryoma's ears hurt. "I'm not going to do what you say! I'm not a messenger or anything, you know?"

"Is that so…" Marui began coldly, the temperature in the room dropping by a few degrees. "Well then, I guess I'll have to tell them myself. That two people in their team has to stop practice due to… severe injuries."

Ryoma's eyes had widened by a fraction. He'd never seen this side of Marui before. Although this side of Marui was scary, he couldn't help but find the Rikkaidai player kind of cool as well.

Momoshiro sighed angrily. "Fine, fine! I'll tell them, happy?" He stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Silence fell as Marui and Ryoma were left alone in the room. Ryoma fidgeted uncomfortably- now that the excitement was over, the pain had returned to his arm, and his throat hurt.

Marui turned to Ryoma quickly; his eyes were back to his normal cheerful self- light, violet, and for some strange reason, musical.

"Echizen, is there anything you need?" Marui asked gently, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "Water? Food? Gum?"

Ryoma blushed under his attention, managing not to laugh at the 'gum' bit, and how Marui had said it so naturally, as if it was a proper category in itself. "U-Um…" He began, his throat burning. "C-Could you pass me that bottle over there?" He gestured at the (not very) cold bottle of water on the tableside, condensation already causing water droplets to drip off the side of the bottle and form below it on the wooden surface.

"Oh, okay…" Marui bent over to grab the bottle of water for Ryoma. "Looks like the noisy guy had his uses after all…" he muttered to himself lowly.

"Hm?" Ryoma questioned, his head tilted in confusion. Marui shook his head violently.

"It's nothing!" He wasn't going to insult Ryoma's best friend right in front of him, even though it was evident that the person in question hated his guts.

Ryoma shrugged at his suspicious behavior and took the bottle from Marui. The surface of the bottle felt pleasantly cool on his hot palms, and after enjoying the feeling for a while, he tried to twist the bottle cap. For some strange reason, his numb hands couldn't tighten themselves around the bottle cap, and the bottle fell onto his lap.

Frowning, he picked it up and tried to open it again with the same results. Marui took pity on him and sat down on the bed beside him, picking the bottle up from Ryoma's lap. "I'll do it," he said firmly.

Ryoma didn't really want to appear as weak, but allowed Marui to help him open the bottle without complaint. He took advantage of the time to examine the volley specialist's face—

The crimson hair which was dusted with a pinkish tinge, the mysterious amethyst eyes which lit up with a soft violet hue when he was having fun…

-"Here you go, Echizen," Marui grinned, handing the bottle back to him. Ryoma snapped out of his daze and took the bottle back, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. To think that he was daydreaming about the Rikkaidai player for no particular reason… How mortifying.

"T-Thanks," he muttered, before taking a long drink from the bottle. The cool liquid slid down his throat, and he sighed in contentment. He looked up to see Marui gazing at him with a strange expression.

"…What?" Ryoma asked unsurely, hoping that he hadn't done anything weird.

"Echizen, will you go out with me?"

Marui didn't even seem to know that he had asked Ryoma such a serious question, until he realized that Ryoma was staring at him in surprise. He nearly killed himself in embarrassment. How could he ask Ryoma that? It wasn't as if the other boy liked him or anything—he was just pushing his one-sided feelings onto the boy...!

Ryoma was sure that the blush had spread across his entire face now. "…Huh?" He wasn't hearing things… was he?

Marui, seemingly taking his shock for a sort of horrified rejection, quickly backtracked and gave an awkward laugh. "No! I didn't mean it in that way! I meant… uh…" He thought quickly of an idea. "I meant, do you want to go out and have lunch with me at the new crêperie? The crêpes taste really nice you know, and there're all kinds of flavors, you name it!" He found himself rambling, his mind not really capable of thinking straight. It was probably the shock of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

He nearly hit himself. Ryoma was lying on the bed, and knowing the rookie, probably in much more pain than he let on, and here he was, suggesting that they should go out and have lunch as if everything was fine and dandy!

Ryoma felt his heart slow down to its normal rate, although his cheeks continued to burn. What was he thinking…? Although he felt strangely disappointed, maybe lunch wouldn't be that bad. He was feeling sort of hungry anyway.

"On second thought," Marui rambled on, as if he was afraid of what Ryoma's reply would be, "Maybe you should continue to rest here. We'll go some other time! Yes, right now, what you really need to do is rest up and recover- I don't even know what I was thinking—"

"Marui-senpai—" Ryoma cut in, trying to catch the other's attention.

"—and you don't really need to take what I said to heart! The crepe store won't run away— E-Echizen…?"

Marui cut his own sentence off as he felt Ryoma's hand grab his. His heart rate escalated and he felt almost light-headed. "W-W-What…"

"Marui-senpai," Ryoma smiled softly, "It's fine. Let's go to the crêperie for lunch."

Marui blinked, not really registering what the other was saying— the small smooth hand which had its hold on him… it was like a dream…! Nothing could ruin this perfect moment!

He decided to tune in to what the other was saying, and almost immediately regretted it.

"… your treat of course,"

"Of course! …Huh? Wait—"

And he'd forgotten to mention that those blasted crêpes cost about twenty dollars each.


End file.
